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Cataclysm Preview: The Lost City of the Tol'vir

NOTE:
This

NOTE:
This guide has been updated to include all the information on both the Normal and Heroic versions of the bosses.

The Lost City of TolVir is one of three instances found in the zone of Uldam. It is an instance meant for fresh level 85 players and features the Tolvir race and the Alakir elementals. The Tolvir are very similar to your friends in the zone, the Ramkahen, but have had the curse of flesh removed and returned to a stone based form.

This is an instanced version of the outdoor city of Tolvir where you start your questing in the zone of Uldum. To enter the city as an instance you must come through the main doorway at the northern edge of the city.

A map of the Lost City of Tol'vir

Once in the instanced version of the city you will find several large groups of trash creatures. Trash meaning creatures that are not the boss. These groups are large and varied in the instance and you will really need to worry about CC (Crowd Control) as you make your way through the instance. Now that most classes have some form of useful CC this should not be an issue for all but the unluckiest groups. One thing to note is that several of the creatures are hunter based and will summon pets once they are engaged, so keep an eye out for additional creatures entering the fight, they like to go after the healer if not picked up quickly.

General Husam

General Husam, can you avoid stepping on the traps?

General Husam is the first boss you will meet in the Lost City. Being a first boss in an instance means that he is a warm up type fight, and while he has several abilities, he is not likely to cause too many issues.

Bad Intentions  He will occasionally charge a random player causing damage and a knock back. He will then return to the tank.Shockwave  This attack causes the very earth to crack below his feet, sending out shockwaves in four directions. You will see this as four lines of dust. Avoid them as they can cause significant damage and a knock back effect.Detonation Traps  He has an ability where he places glowing energy spheres on the ground in the area. These act as explosive mines, and anyone crossing them will cause them to explode doing AOE damage and knocking them back.

General Husam Strategy

This fight is a fairly simple Tank and Spank encounter. The tank simply needs to hold agro and turn or move slightly each time shockwave is set off or traps appear near him. The rest of the players need to watch for the same things, avoiding both shockwaves and traps. The healer should ensure players are topped off so that a charge from bad intentions doesnt finish anyone off.

Other than those simple things the fight is short and sweet, and you can collect your loot and move on.

General Husam Heroic Mode Strategy

General Husam is a very similar fight on normal and heroic. The main difference between the modes is the number of mines that he places. In heroic mode he places five at a time, one under each player, and places them quite frequently. This means that you will very quickly run out of room to avoid getting hit by them when they explode. To counter this it is best to clear the groups of adds from both sides of the room before the fight. Once the fight starts, the tank should drag General Husam to one side of the room and then slowly back up as he tanks him in a large circle around the outside of the room. The DPS and Healer should move with the tank slowly, never getting behind him, so that all mines are placed where the group has already been.

Getting the pacing down should not be difficult if you have the whole room to work with, and the fight can safely be done in ½ the room, its just easier the first few times with more space to work with.

Augh and Lockmaw

Lockmaw

The second encounter in the Lost City instance is made up of two bosses, the diminutive Augh and the crocolisk Lockmaw. When getting to this fight you should skip around Augh where you first see him and make your way to Lockmaw to engage him. Dont worry, Augh will join in.

Aughs Abilities

Whirlwind  This is a standard AOE whirlwind attack, however while doing this Augh slows down significantly.Paralytic Dart  This attack does damage, inflicts a DOT and slows the target for several seconds.Scent of Blood  Augh can mark a player with the scent of blood, attracting nearby crocolisks which spawn from the surrounding marsh. While marked the crocolisks will agro you and chase you down. In addition the scent of blood has a small bleed effect.

Lockmaws Abilities

Dust Flail  Occasionally Lockmaw will slam his tail to the ground causing a cloud of dust and AOE damage to anyone nearby.Venomous Rage - This is a frenzy based ability that increases damage output by 25% until removed.Viscous Poison  This attack hits the main target and anyone within 5 yards. It deals damage, applies a poison DOT, and slows movement by 30% for 12 seconds.

Augh and Lockmaw Strategy

The main thing to focus on in this fight is controlling the adds. As long as they do not stay up too long chasing a healer or cloth based DPS you will be ok. Burn the adds down quickly while the tank holds Lockmaw away from the group, and taunts Augh any time they can. When a player is marked they can also try running to the tank to have the crocolisks taunted off of them. Do this only if you are having issues getting them down before they cause significant damage though, as the time spent moving will prolong the fight.

DPS should focus on the crocolisks while they are up, then Lockmaw. The rest of the time they should kite Augh around as he whirlwinds in the group.

Overall the fight is fairly simple, and should not present difficulties to many groups.

Augh and Lockmaw Heroic Strategy

Of all the fights in the instance, this one changes the most from normal to heroic. The fight is now split into two separate events. The first part is the Lockmaw fight, which remains much the same as in normal mode. Because of the high damage that he causes players should make sure that his frenzy at 25% health is removed quickly or the healer can have issues. Other than that though, follow the normal strategy for Lockmaw.

The difference really starts once you have defeated Lockmaw, as you must deal with Augh. He will respawn where Lockmaw started and has the same abilities as he did in the first part of the fight. He will whirlwind around the room causing heavy damage to anyone he catches. He also shoots poison darts at players that leave a very nasty DOT and slow effect on them. He is a very simple boss though compared to almost any other Heroic boss. Essentially stay away from whirlwind and heal through damage and you get easy gear.

High Profit Barim

High Profit Barim, and no we are not talking about your profit margin being high.

The High Profit is probably the first challenge in the instance. The other fights are fairly easy to deal with, Barim will offer most groups their first challenge. The Barim fight is broken up into two phases. In the first phase you must deal with Barim himself and his abilities. In the second phase you are shifter to a shadow realm to deal with a Harbinger of Darkness, and then once he is defeated you are returned to normal reality to finish off Barim.

Fifty Lashes  This is a fast set of melee attacks that hit the tank fast and hard. The tank or healer will have to burn cooldown abilities to make it through these attacks.Heavens Fury  Barin calls down a bolt from the heavens, hitting the ground causing AOE damage to anyone nearby. You can see this as a bolt from the skies and you will have a few seconds to avoid it. Plague of Ages  This attack hits a target for nature damage and then bounces to anyone nearby. It will keep bouncing as long as players are close together.Repentance  When cast this ability starts the second phase of the fight, pulling the souls from players bodies and allowing them to fight in the shadow realm. It also summons a Harbringer of Darkness.Hallowed Ground  This is active in the second phase of the fight and shows up as void zones on the ground, anyone that stands in them suffers significant holy damage.

High Prophit Barim Strategy

The fight starts as the tank engages High Profit Barim and holds him away from the other players. Everyone needs to stay spread out to avoid Heavens Fury and Plague of Ages in this first phase. The tank and healer may need to coordinate cooldown usage so that the tank can stay up during the fifty lashes attacks, however if you are geared well, it shouldnt be too hard.

At roughly 50% health Barim will cast Repentance pulling everyone into melee range with him and then shifting them into the shadow realm. While here he is impervious to damage so simply ignore him. During this phase a Harbinger of Darkness will appear that the tank needs to pick up quickly. The Harbinger does high damage and has an AOE attack that hits anything nearby. This combined with Barims Hallowed Ground effect during this phase means that players should all spread out to avoid both AOE effects and burn down the Harbinger as quickly as possible.

Once the Harbinger has been defeated, players are returned to the normal realm and phase one resumes. Finish off Barim and you will be ready to move onto the last fight in the zone.

High Prophit Barim Strategy

The High Prophet Barim fight is extremely entertaining in Heroic mode as it has more going on. While not necessarily hard, the fight requires coordination between players and makes for a fun fight.

Right from the start of the first phase a phoenix will spawn that needs to either be kited or killed. However if killed he instead turns into an egg and will hatch shortly after, after all you cant really kill a phoenix. To solve this issue, you can do two different things. The first is to simply have one player kite the phoenix for the whole fight, which can easily be done by a skilled Hunter. The second thing that can be done is to down the phoenix and then leave DOTs on the egg. The egg heals over time until at full health and then hatches. If DPS keeps putting some damage on it occasionally it will never hatch. Once you get Barim down to 50% health the second phase starts.

The second phase is exactly like it was in normal mode, however here the AOE damage caused by the soul fragments reaching the phoenix is high enough to cause wipes. Therefore slowing the fragments while killing them, and kiting the phoenix away are both critical. This is why it is important to practice proper strategy on normal mode fights rather than following the conventional zerg it down strategy that too many players are following.

Once the dark phoenix has been destroyed, the fight returns to phase one. However the High Prophet will also be throwing fire around the room just to make things more interesting. Here you must deal with the phoenix again, while dodging fire, and killing the boss. Its a lot of fun!

Siamat

Siamat

The Djinni Siamat is the last boss in this instance and is located on the central temple in the zone, gotten to by jumping in the whirling vortex just past Barim. The fight is a perfect finish to the instance as it starts as a patience and control fight and then turns into a quick burn down fight. The fight is challenging for fresh level 85s and a great end to the instance.

Deflecting Winds  This self buff grants Siamat 90% spell deflection and 90% damage reduction.Gathered Storms  Siamat summons storm clouds that cover the temple inflicting nature damage to everyone present in the fight every 2 seconds.Storm Bolt  This is a lightning bolt that hits the target for roughly 10,000 damage.Storm Clouds  The surrounding storm clouds occasionally burst on a player causing damage to the player and anyone nearby, and knocking them back.Wailing Winds  These show up as mini-tornadoes that move around the temple causing damage and knocking back anyone they hit.Minion of Siamat  This summoned ally of Siamats casts a chain lightning spell that hits each target harder than the previous one. It will bounce to hit up to 5 targets. Minions decay over time and will disappear after a while.Servant of Siamat  This summoned ally emits an AOE pulse hurting anyone nearby every 2 seconds. They also can hit their main target with a direct damage spell caused Thunder Crash.

Siamat Strategy

This fight is essentially two phases. Very shortly after engaging Siamat he will cast Deflecting Winds making it impractical to further damage him until it dissipates. While affected by Deflecting Winds he will remain in the center of the temple casting his abilities at random players and summoning Minions and Servants.

The tank should pull any and all Servants away from other players since they can cause AOE damage and hit single targets especially hard. If possible agro and control Minions as well, however they are less critical. DPS players should focus on Servants and kill them as quickly as possible. Only once they are dead should they move onto Minions. Minions dissipate over time so will die by themselves over time. While this is happening though, players need to ensure they are at least 11 yards apart from one another, otherwise the chain lighting from the Minions will bounce across multiple players causing issues for your healer.

Once you have defeated enough Servants and Minions Siamats Deflecting Wind buff will fade and everyone should focus on DPSing him down as quickly as possible.

Be aware that throughout the fight players will need to avoid wailing winds while doing everything else. Also, Siamat will continue summoning Minions during this final phase, ignore them and burn down the boss. If you are too slow or too light on DPS the AOE damage from the Minions, Storm Clouds, Wailing Winds, and Gathered Storms will overwhelm the healer.

Siamat Heroic Mode Strategy

This fight remains almost exactly the same as in normal mode at first glance. In phase one it is important to have someone interrupt the minions chain lightning ability to minimize damage. Also the Servants now explode on death, so it is important to get away before they die and kill them with ranged DPS.

In the second phase Siamat gains a buff over time causing more and more AOE damage, making the fight a DPS race once his shield comes down.

In addition throughout the fight, more storms spawn than in normal mode, however at this point everyone should be experts at avoiding damage or they shouldnt really be in heroic instances, should they.

Messiahs Take on the Instance

I like the instance, however on normal mode feel that a little something is missing from several of the bosses. The first two especially are cake walks. They have some cool abilities and potential however I have yet to see a group wipe on them, which means they are not tuned to be hard enough. I was hoping for something a little harder at this level.

The last two boss fights though are bang on for what I believe we should expect for a 5 player level 85 instance. They have some cool mechanics, are challenging but not overwhelming and provide enough difficulty to start training players for end game raiding.

The trash in the instance is also really good, in that there is enough of it but not too much. There are also large enough groups of trash that players fresh to 85 will be forced to use Crowd Control (CC) which is as it should be in an instance, no more WotLK AOE tanking whole instances, which is a welcome relief.

Once you start taking this instance on in heroic mode the instance really starts to shine. The boss fights are much more interesting and challenging. The extra abilities make the bosses feel far more like raid bosses and they should give any group a real challenge.

Lastly the visuals in the instance are very good and it feels like you are wandering through an ancient city in the tropics. The scenery is right, and it feels very open, in fact if you didnt know you came through and instance portal, you would assume you were in the full WoW world, not an instance.